1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device for removably retaining printed circuit boards in connectors and, more specifically, to a mechanical retainer for removably locking a printed circuit board in position within a card edge connector.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
It is often necessary to transfer signals in current paths on printed circuit boards to locations external of the board, such as other printed circuit boards for various purposes. Edge connectors have been devised to assist in performance of such functions, examples of which are shown in the patents of Fedder et al. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,487,468, Fedder et al. 4,498,722 and Cobaugh, et al. 4,579,411. In such edge connectors of the prior art, the connector assembly is generally slid over the edge of the printed circuit board and fingers in the connector make contact with appropriate conductive paths on the circuit board. The fingers are then soldered to the conductive paths on the circuit board. Such solder connections have proved to be unreliable in that the solder joints often come apart due to movement between the circuit board and the contact fingers of the connector. It has therefore been necessary to provide some type of mechanical retainer in addition to the solder connection to secure the circuit board to the connector. The above patents set forth examples of such retainers.
The prior art retainers have been relatively inefficient in that they utilized screws and/or roll pins and the like which were relatively labor intensive in order to secure the circuit board to the connector. It is therefore apparent that a simple device which can rapidly releasably lock the printed circuit board in the connector is desirable.